China’s latest J-20 stealth fighters made their parade debut in the north part. (Representative Image/Reuters)

Chinese military today showcased five models of it’s homemade conventional and nuclear missiles in a massive military parade, marking the 2.3-million strong People’s Liberation Army’s 90th founding anniversary.The models include the Dongfeng-26 ballistic missile, which can be fired at short notice and fitted with a nuclear warhead, the Dongfeng-21D land-based antiship ballistic missile described as a “carrier killer” and the Dongfeng-16G conventional missile designed for precision strikes against key enemy targets. Also on display were two types of solid-fuel inter- continental strategic nuclear missiles, which rumbled on top of long-bed missile launchers, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The equipment and soldiers driving the mobile launch vehicles came from the PLA’s Rocket Force, which was established in December 2015 as part of the PLA’s extensive military structural reform.

The predecessor of Rocket Force, the Second Artillery Force, was founded on July 1, 1966. China’s latest J-20 stealth fighters made their parade debut in the north part. Three J-20 jets led an echelon formation consisting of 15 fighter aircraft which roared over the Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region during the country’s first-ever Army Day parade. The J-20 is China’s indigenous fourth-generation medium and the long-range fighter jet. It made its maiden flight in 2011 and was first publicly displayed at the 11th Airshow China in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, in November last year. “The enlisting of fourth-generation jets will bring fundamental changes to the rules of the game in air battlefield,” said Wang Mingzhi, a professor with the PLA Air Force Command College.

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“It will also draw the curtain on transformation in the PLA Air Force,” Wang said.Besides J-20, J-16 fighters and Y-20 heavy transport aircraft were also among the new aircraft making parade debuts today. The J-16 is a two-seat, dual-engine multi-role fighter with beyond-visual-range air-to-air and air-to-ship strike capabilities. The Y-20 plane with a maximum take-off weight of about 200 tonnes, is designed to carry cargo and personnel over long distances in complicated meteorological conditions. It officially entered military service in July 2016. The PLA was founded on August 1, 1927, when the ruling Communist Party of China under the leadership of Mao Zedong carried on with his national liberation movement.

The parade was held in the backdrop of over month-long standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam in Sikkim section. Besides Doklam, China is also concerned by the situation in North Korea and the deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile by the US in South Korea much to the opposition of the Beijing.